Sushil Kumar Shinde defends Rahul Gandhi’s landing at Guptkashi

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi did an aerial survey of Kedarnath on Tuesday and landed his chopper at the Guptkashi relief camp, much against Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s directions spelt out to ET on Monday that no politician was being allowed to land at any of the ravaged spots during an aerial survey.

Shinde, however, defended the Congress scion on Wednesday saying his no landing orders were only limited to the initial three-four days of rescue operations. Shinde said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and he himself did not, hence, land at the ravaged sites during their respective aerial surveys last Saturday. “Much of the rescue work is now over and anybody can visit the affected spots now — Modi is also welcome to do so now. Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Guptkashi did not hamper any rescue effort,” Shinde said on Wednesday.

Shinde had also said on Monday that he would advise VIPs to avoid going to Uttarakhand for some days. Gandhi arrived in Dehradun on Monday and then took the road till Gauchar in a private vehicle. He reached Gauchar on Monday night and stayed there at an ITBP rest house on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he took a chopper from the ITBP base to undertake an aerial survey of the Kedar Valley and landed at the Guptkashi relief camp to meet the flood-affected people there. The Congress spokespersons, however, said Gandhi landed in Guptkashi due to a technical problem. By evening, he was back in Gauchar and proceeded back to Dehradun by road on the same day.